Mash water temperature sensor with alarm

Let me start off with saying I am lazy.

It takes about 30 minutes to heat up 12 gallons of water to 166 degrees for mash in water. I want to start the burner and walk away until it reaches the correct temp. Does anyone know of a probe or sensor that has an alarm that will go off when the water temp hits what you want? Does this already exist?

 

Just bought a meat thermometer at Walmart a week or two ago for less than $10 that has an alarm on it like that. I would set it below the temp you want to reach otherwise you will over shoot it by the time you hear the alarm

 

Yea, I didn't even think about that. I found a wireless one on amazon. Thanks.

 

How big do you brew to need 12 gallons of mash water??? That's 48 quarts, at 1.2 quarts per pound, you could mash 40 lbs of grains

If you're brewing 10 gallons, you'd be better off heating only the mash water necessary, then at 30 minutes before end of mash, heat up the mash water.

MC

 

I have this one and love it. Works like a charm. I bought a competitors one and submerged the probe in water and it stopped working. Dont submerge the probes and you'll be fine.

 

Well, that 12 gallons is my strike water and mash out water. I could heat one and then the other, but I might as well get it all heated at once and over with. I then just have to get it up to 170 to mash out.

So with the one you use blankenship11, can you submerge that one in water? I need it to measure the temp of the water.

 

Just dont drop the whole probe in water. Where the end of the probe connects to the wire is not waterproof and when water gets in there it becomes inaccurate. The last one i got read like 90 at room temp after i submerged it, even after it dried for days. The thermoworks one is nice and long so I just clip it to the side of my kettle and it works fine. I get to go do other things and the alarm goes off when I'm up to temp.

 

It's much wiser to heat the sparge water AFTER the mash has started. It's dead time anyways. If heating 12 gallons takes say 30 minutes, heating 5 gallons for the mash will take roughly 5/12th of that. Once the mash is sitting for 60 (or 90) minutes, there's plenty of time to heat the sparge water and no hurry either. I've done the math, I've done the practice.

MC